OMG. Enough with the Powerball think pieces already. It’s not that deep. OK, I lied. It’s deep. One and a half billion dollars is pretty profound. Be offended if that's your nature and what you must do, but kindly unwind your ass just enough to let in a little sunshine. Trust me; you'll be doing all of us a favor.

Sometimes people need an escape, a glimmer of hope, an inkling of a dream, or even some ideal to work toward. Sometimes those dreams come in the form lottery tickets that could be worth over a billion dollars. It's tacky, yes, but so what? A dream's a dream. I don't understand people who hate on that. Why not let those of us who have purchased tickets, dream without judgment? Let us imagine how we would travel, experience things, buy things, accumulate stuff (or whatever it is that tickles our fancies) if money were no object. Let us have our moment in peace. Let us fantasize so that we can cope with reality when we open our eyes.

Maybe you’re already rich, if so, that's great. I’m not. I still carefully consider every transaction. I pour through financial statements, research interest rates, credit reports and all that. I can’t hire folks to do this for me. Well, I suppose I could, but they’d just look at my bank account and ask why I’d insisted on meeting. Reality’s a bitch, and there’s far less sugar with which to swallow that medicine when you’re not rich. C’est la vie. I could dwell on that or the fantasy, and I choose the latter. Go on. Call me a dreamer like it’s an insult and I promise to care.

Alternatively, maybe you’re completely off the grid and rolling your eyes at my unwitting participation in this capitalist, nay fascist, lottery system. If you’re one of these people, I suppose you’re sort of right. However, my participation comes with open eyes. I’m sorry. I’m weak. I want to dream too and even I know you can’t win if you don’t play.

Conversely, if you’re spending all your cash on lottery tickets, you’re a dope. If you’re spending income that isn't disposable on lottery tickets, you’re a moron. Additionally, anyone in your life allowing you to indulge in such reckless behavior, without discouraging you, is no friend. Get help.

Lastly, if you’re so zen that you’ve located your personal nirvana and don’t have any use for the emotions that come from buying a lottery ticket for a jackpot of 1.5 billion dollars, you’ve already won. Fuck you right off the bat. JK, I’d like to know your secret, so please provide any guidance you’d like to share. Many thanks in advance.

Right now my reality consists of personal growth in the form of delayed baby steps. As a result, I can’t resist the temptation to dream, even if it means paying into a system that targets the poor and undereducated. I even picked actual numbers instead of going with a randomly generated sequence this time because why not? Fantasies can be fun.